Just over a week after apologizing for writing he had earned a Bronze Star — an award he hadn’t received — on an internship application nearly 20 years ago, a defiant Gov. Wes Moore said Friday he no longer had time to field criticism about the inaccuracy.
Moore sat down with NPR’s Michel Martin for a sweeping hour-plus interview at the Texas Tribune Festival, the nonprofit news outlet’s annual fundraiser. Their conversation encompassed a broad range of topics, including the tenuous national political climate, the recent Baltimore Sun purchase and Maryland’s juvenile justice reforms.
But when it came to addressing criticisms raised after The New York Times uncovered the inaccurate claim on Moore’s 2006 application, he told Martin he was too busy making the lives of Marylanders and veterans better.
“The way I deal with it is I don’t,” he told Martin. “I don’t have time for foolishness.”
Moore characterized the scrutiny of his decision not to correct the record years ago when he ran for governor or when interviewers referenced the Bronze Star in his bio as an “attack.”
The former U.S. Army captain explained to the Texas audience that his commanding officer helped him fill out his application. And because his superior had nominated him for the medal, he had told Moore to add it to his fellowship application. But “the paperwork never processed,” Moore said.
Moore was discharged knowing he did not receive the commendation, but said he had moved on with his life and had forgotten the application. His former commanding officer, Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel, told The New York Times he was resubmitting the paperwork for Moore’s commendation.
After the New York Times story came out, Moore told reporters the incident “was an honest mistake,” and said he should have gone back and changed his application.
Moore has made veterans’ issues a key policy platform for his administration and has signed laws he pitched to the General Assembly that eased financial burdens on military members and their families.
The winding discussion covered a range of subjects. Here are a few more highlights.
Moore defended the military service of Walz and Vance
Moore told Martin he lacked the patience and tolerance for questions about anyone’s military service, including any leveled at the two vice presidential candidates. Moore defended the service of GOP Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, calling them “people who raised their hand because the country asked.”
“Thank you for your service cannot just be a statement,” he said. “There needs to be meaning behind it.”
Walz served in the National Guard for 24 years, including overseas, but was never deployed to a combat zone. Walz blamed poor grammar for misspeaking back in 2018 when he claimed he carried “weapons of war” in a war. Vance served as a military journalist in the Marines and has lobbed criticism at Walz for his misstatement.
Since only a fraction of the country’s population serves in uniform, Moore said the national conversation on the military service of politicians is “more of a voyeuristic conversation, because people haven’t experienced it.”
Moore said he had a “deep sense of pride as a veteran” that “the next vice president of the United States will be someone who has worn the uniform of this country — no matter who wins this thing.”
David Smith’s ownership of The Baltimore Sun
Martin steered conversation toward voters’ sources for news consumption and how certain news outlets are controlled by “ideologues with a political agenda.”
“In your state, a major newspaper has been taken over by — the major news outlet — has been taken over by somebody with an avowed political agenda,” she said.
“How do you get around that?” she asked Moore. Martin was referring to the purchase earlier this year of Maryland’s flagship newspaper, The Baltimore Sun. David Smith, a conservative TV mogul and Sinclair Broadcast Group executive chairman, privately bought the paper. Unionized staff at The Sun have complained that the paper is now publishing stories from Baltimore’s Fox45 TV station and not maintaining long-standing journalistic standards.
“The thing that I know is that they are not going to be the only voice,” he said.
Moore said when consumers realize they are being “manipulated,” they also realize they can go elsewhere for their news.
“I think that what we just have to continue to do is continue to show alternatives that people can have,” he said. “That can show them that you don’t have to be manipulated with the quote-unquote news that you are receiving.”
On Maryland’s juvenile justice reforms
Martin asked Moore about his philosophies and policy decisions concerning juvenile crime. While crime is down in Maryland, she said, the subject continues to be a “pain point” for politicians. What can Democratic leaders do about that? she asked.
Moore said lawmakers don’t have to choose between giving kids second chances and ensuring citizens feel safe in their communities. His administration has invested in law enforcement, support for victims and rehabilitative services for youths.
“The way we’ve approached it in our work is basically saying we’re going to take an all-of-the-above approach,” he said.
This year, Moore signed a law that expanded criminal charges for kids 10 to 12 years old, and gave judges and prosecutors more jurisdiction over cases. The legislation rolled back reforms based on decades of research that shows young children have better outcomes when they are diverted away from the justice system.
Moore contrasted the record-low homicide rates in Baltimore during his tenure with that of the consistent 300-plus annual homicides during the eight years his predecessor, former Gov. Larry Hogan, was in office.
“It’s not just about throwing statistics at people’s faces and saying, ‘Look, guys, the statistics don’t lie,’ but what they’re also saying is, ‘But if I don’t feel safe in my neighborhood, that matters, too.”
